Growing Like Weeds
The pups are doing very well. They play well and all get along. Here is an update on personalities. Don't hinge everything on this post, it is merely what I have noticed since returning from my funeral trip.
Holly: very balanced, plays with all pups, very social but also is comfortable being by herself. Not hyper, but playful. Will instigate play time. Loves on me, but isn't overbearing. She lays on my lap and is comfortable there, even though others may jump on her. She did get carsick on the hour trip to the vet, but did not get car sick on the way home. I drive a jeep and even I get weazy in the back seat. One of the first to greet me when I walk by, but is not noisy. Has a beautiful look to her and a very sweet personality.
Noelle: my bundle of energy. This has been consistent for two weeks now. She is the first to greet me and will leave all play behind to jump on the side of the pen to get to me. She is vocal and will whine until she is fed. She REALLY needs to be with a family that is home all day. She needs the constant play or stimulation. Loves to eat, but is still just 8.8 lbs. She is extremly playful, plays with all of the pups. WIll initiate play and just drop when she is tired and go to sleep.
Nicolas: he is the calmest of all the pups. He does not like the higher energy and scratching of a puppy pile. He is very social and will sleep with all of them and play with them, but he is wise beyond his weeks and just sits and looks at me when all the other pups are trying to crawl up me. If I clear the area, he comes right over and snuggles. He is the pup that will whine when tired and all the other pups are sleeping. He will walk around and whine looking for a place to sleep. I like this time with him. I pick him up and hold him, sometimes he falls asleep in my arms, other times he will fall asleep laying next to me, like a baby and I then sneak out when he is asleep. He is not a loner, but has figured out he does not need to be scratched or chewed on to have fun.
Frosty: he is my curious george and will instigate an activity, such as tearing up piddle pads. : ) He is very loving and is always in my lap when I sit in the pen. He love laying on my lap on his back and I rub his belly or let him teethe on my fingers. He is the second most social, probably tied with Holly, just behind Noelle. Like the others, he comes when I call him, he loves to sleep with his littermates, and loves to seek out toys to entertain him.
Kris Kringle: Kris is not for sale right now. He needs some tests done, so we are keeping him temporarily. Kris and Frosty are buds and like the others, he is extremely social and loves to greet me at the pen when I walk by. Kris loves toes, as well as Nicolas and can always be found gnawing on my toes if I am barefoot. He has a stronger bite so I am working with him on what is too hard. He will get it soon and is just excited when he plays. He is stunning to look at and just a perfect conformation and look. He loves the hanging toys I have on an apparatus and can entertain himself or play with others.
All of the pups are really enjoying their little beds. Some litters like them, some don't but all of these pups love them.
I returned from the funeral in Illinois last week and then had the flu. The achy joints have lasted for a week and I just now have enough energy to stand and walk. No sickness, just a full body ache for a week and no energy at all. The pups went to the vet today. The largest pups are Nicolas and Kris at 12.2 lbs. Holly and Frosty come in second at nearly 10 and 11 lbs. and Noelle is the smallest at 8.8 lbs. They had their first set of immunizations and I had a long talk with the vet about sterilization. He wanted to make sure I knew that owners should wait if they are spay/neutering, which is in your contract. He also said he now does vasectomies and tubal ligations for the same price and encouraged me to talk to new owners about this option if they needed to sterilize younger.
I took pictures earlier this week and will post tomorrow (Friday). Hopefully I will have energy to follow through with this.
We Have Moved
January 29, 2019
The puppies were moved out of our upstairs den and in to a large pen in our living room/kitchen area. They have much more space to move and run now. They are slowly learning where to go potty in their pen and are great at keeping it away from their sleeping area.
They also have teeth now. Their canines are in and functioning well. They still do not like food, just milk, but each day we try them on a bit of mushed food. They prefer to play with it rather than eat it. They interact and play with each other and toys. It is mezmerizing watching them. They love people and will whine when I walk by, so much of my day is spent playing with puppies. Ah, what a life.
They are five weeks today and choices MUST be made so others may have time to book an affordable flight if they get the puppy of their choice. If choices are not made by late tomorrow night (Wednesday night), I will choose, so others have answers and can make travel arrangements. Many breeders choose your dog for you and we prefer you choose your puppy as we want you satisfied.
I am leaving Thursday morning for a family funeral in Illinois and will not return until late on Tuesday the 5th, so puppies may not be seen for the duration of my absence.
We Are 26 Days Old
January 20, 2019
The pups are growing fast. Holly is a much better eater with the bottle now and so is Frosty and Nicolas. They still have Gerber rice cereal in their milk to give them a bit more sustanance. Kris Kringle still does not like the bottle and naturally will nurse the longest, so I introduced them all to ground up chicken and veggies last night mixed with goat milk in a small bowl. They were so funny. They would stick their noses in it and then spend the next few minutes licking their noses and their littermates noses. Two stepped in it and then licked their paws and licked the bedding that their paws touched. They just could not seem to lick out of the small bowl. Kris and Holly licked around the edge of the bowl and Noelle fell asleep with her head on the edge of the bowl. I had to slowly remove it from under her head.
They are beginning to interact with each other now. I would not call it playing yet, but they lick each other and will nuzzle up to each other. You are now welcome to come and see them to begin the choice process, so text me or email to let me know a good time. It has been a CRAZY week this past week, with non-stop homework, cleaning house and entertaining company, 18" of snow to clear, puppy play time and much more. Hopefully this next week, things will settle down. We are expecting 12"-24" of snow in the next 30 hours and the Sundance Film Festival begins Thursday, so I will not venture out much this next week.
We Are Three Weeks Old
January 14, 2019
Today is our three week old birthday. We got our first manicure today, ok, it was just a nail trim. We were irritating our moms skin as we nursed. Mom never complained but Brenda saw how red she was and trimmed our nails. Noelle is still a very calm eater but the rest of us just go for it and make a mess. Brenda put rice cereal in our goat milk today, hoping to calm us down and give us a bit more to fill our tummies.
We now stay awake for about 15 minutes after we eat. Our little personalities are beginning to show slightly. We all know how to whine, we walk around now but have not learned to play with each other. That will come next week.
We Can See The World
Eyes began to open on Tuesday, their two week birthdate. The first was Frosty with his right eye. By the following day, all of the puppies had slits of eyes opening. How exciting. Now at 17 days old, all of their eyes are open. They still are forming and probably don't see clearly yet, but they will. Don't get too excited in pictures as all mammals are born with blue eyes. Blue represent no pigment in the iris and it takes a few weeks for the pigment to form. The brown pups will have amber colored eyes and the black pups will have brown eyes. There are no PWD's with blue eyes other than under six weeks of age.
They are healthy eaters and around this age, they all become a bit odd about eating habits. They can just about walk to mom now. They have sailor legs, but they can get around. They fill up on mom and then I top them off, but all but Noelle are now sloppy, excited eaters. They move their heads back and forth as if they are trying to find a nipple or bottle in front of them, even though they know its there. They cannot seem to keep anything in their mouths. Every puppy goes through this stage and I cannot explain why. Noelle still is a quiet calm eater, but she too may go through this stage. They will calm down again in a couple of weeks and then we will teach them to lap their food. It may because they cannot get it quick enough, so I will change the nipple in the bottles to allow more flow.
They still just eat and sleep. Not much else. They are beginning to whine when they have not had enough food, or are trying to get to mom. They are also beginning to go potty on their own and don't need much stimulation any longer. This litter has never slept in a puppy pile. Some do, some do not, but they like their space. Some will sleep close to each other and sometimes a head will be on another pup. Right now, Holly has her head on Kris Kringle as they sleep. I just saw Frosty "chasing bunnines", which is moving their feet when they sleep. They do not like the little ski lift and igloo soft kennels we have for them and climb right out of them. Many love to scoot behind them and sleep with their heads up between the soft side of it and the little play pool that serves as their whelping box.
Happy New Year
January 5, 2019
We are growing like weeds mom thinks. All of us have gained over a pound in the past week. Our eyes still are not opened. They will open about day 16 and then look out world. We are now walking on wobbly legs, which is quite interesting considering our eyes and ears have not opened yet. Why don't you try that? We can locate mom very efficiently and smell her the minute she walks in the rooom. We smell like none of you can and can find milk wherever it is. Mom lets us nurse first and then tops us off with goat milk. We never go hungry, in fact, we have little paunches so we are well nourished.
Not much exciting news in our lives yet. We eat, we sleep and sometimes we go to the bathroom on our own when we wake up and are excited. That is all we do 24/7 right now, but we will keep you up to date as things change.
December 25, 2018
We were born on Christmas day about 11:45 a.m. Mom went to the vet for a progesterone test for the third day in a row and it dropped each day from 5.1 to 4.6 and then 3.0. Mark and Brenda left Christmas morning at 9:15 and arrived at the vet at 10 a.m. for a test. By 11:00 they were told that we would be born today. The vet was not there by 11:30 so they left for just over an hour to try to celebrate Christmas, then back again just after 1:00 to pick us up. We were all healthy weights and a variety of colors. We have been growing well and are good eaters. Brenda weighs us daily to make sure we are gaining weight as the first week is the most nebulous. We must be kept warm, eat every two hours around the clock and make sure we go potty, so mama Brenda must stimulate us and keep us clean and cleaned out, yet fill our tummies. All is good.